Animated display device



Nov. 4, 1958 P. H. STANLEY ANIMATED DISPLAY DEVICE Filed Sept. 19, 1956 INVENTOR DAULASTANLH BY Mimi fi F-FE AT To HeYs -its supporting wire during operation.

United States Patent 2,858,643 ANIMATED DISPLAY DEVICE Paul H. Stanley, Walnut Grove, Calif.

Application September 19, 1956, Serial No. 610,866

1 Claim. (Cl. 46100) This application relates to a new and improved animated advertising display device and in part discloses and claims subject matter disclosed in applicants patent application identified by Serial No. 414,732 filed March 8, 1954 (now abandoned) entitled Animated Display Device. v

This invention illustrated in the drawings and described hereinafter in greater detail includes a counterbalanced wheel which is adaptable to stand upright and rotate with respect to a support such as a wire or rope support on which the wheel is balanced.

The supporting wire is formed as an endless drive which is rotated in a constant direction of travel. The wheel, which is counterbalanced on top of one of the horizontal flights or legs of travel of the wire, rotates at a peripheral speed corresponding to the speed at which the wire is driven. By providing a slight amount of slack in the wire, the counterbalanced wheel will remain positioned centrally of the horizontal flight where a sag will occur, and said wheel will, in eflect, rotate in a fixed position in space without moving in the direction of movement of the wire.

The device of this invention incorporates a figurine portion mounted on and carried by a counterbalanced wheel. The figurine portion may be designed and fabricated to simulate any desired object such as an animal or human being. The figurine portion is preferably provided with flexible or hinged appendages such as arms or legs which may be reciprocated or otherwise animated by driving power supplied through rotation of the counterbalanced wheel which moves relative to Thus, and by way of example, the counterbalanced wheel may be provided with a pair of outwardly projecting crank pedals adapted to rotate with the counterbalanced wheel and pivotally attached to hinged leg members of the figurine portion of the device. In operation, the rotating crank pedals reciprocate the hinged leg members and function to create the visual illusion of the figurine pedaling the counterbalanced wheel along or relative to the support wire in the fashion of a cyclist riding a monocycle on a supporting wire.

It is an object, therefore, of the present invention to provide an advertising display device or the like of the general character above referred to which may be constructed and operated to provide the illusion of animation, yet in an extremely simple and economical fashion. More specifically, it is a principal object of the invention to provide a device of the character briefly mentioned which incorporates a counterbalanced wheel adapted to rotate relative to a support such as a wire and which may further include driving means for utilizing the rotary motion of the wheel for driving animated subassemblies of the display device.

Numerous other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following specification and referring to the accompanying drawings in which similar characters of reference represent corresponding parts in each of the several views.

In the drawings:

The figure is an isometric view of an animated display assembly employing the invention.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings the embodiment of the invention is shown as comprising a counterbalanced animated display device A mounted on a wire support assembly indicated generally at B.

The display device hereinabove designated generally as A comprises more specifically a wheel 10 formed with a peripheral V-shaped groove 11 mounted on an axle 12 which in turn is pivotally journaled to opposite sides of wheel housing 13. The groove'wheel 10 is adapted to engage generally horizontal wire support 40 and is counterbalanced to remain in upright position upon the wire by means of a weight 16 carried by the lower end of wheel housing 13.

A figurine portion 17 which may be designed and fabricated to simulate or represent any desired object may be mounted to and carried by the wheel housing 13. In the drawings the figurine portion 17 is shown as being fashioned to resemble in appearance a fanciful bird-like creature wearing a top hat. The figurine is also provided with hinged legs indicated generally at 18, each comprising upper and lower leg sections 19 and 21 pivotally attached to one another as at 22, defining, in effect, a knee joint for each of the leg members. Moreover, the upper section 19 of the leg member is pivotally secured to the base of the figurine portion 17 by means of a pin or axle 23 and the lower end of the lower section 21 of each leg member is pivotally secured as at 24 to a respectively associated end of a pedal crank 26. The pedal cranks 26 may be formed as oppositely projecting integral extensions of wheel axle 12. Spacer sleeves 27 mounted on pin 23 at opposite sides of the figurine portion may be employed to maintain the leg members 18 in spaced parallel relationship with respect to each other.

The manner of suspending and motivating the assembl A utilizes the principle of an endless drive, such as endless wire 40, which may be wound around a drive pulley 41 and a plurality of idler pulleys 42 to define a substantially horizontal flight 43 on which the display device A is mounted. The endless wire 40 may be power driven in a continuous and unchanging direction of movement as, for example, in the direction of arrows .M in the drawings to cause continuous clockwise rotation of a counterbalanced wheel 10 supported on horizontal flight 43 of the wire. It is desirable not to string the wire 40 around the drive and idler pulleys under tension but on the contrary it is desirable to provide a suflicient amount of slack so that a sag will occur in flight 43 whereby the counterbalanced wheel will have no tendency 'to move in the direction of wire movement but will remain suspended and rotating on the wire at a substantially fixed point in space.

In operation, as the wire moves in the direction of arrows M and the counterbalanced wheel 10 rotates in a clockwise direction, the pedal cranks 26 function to reciprocate the hinged left and right leg members 18 of the display device alternately upwardly and downwardly giving the eflfect of animation of the device.

Although the present invention has been described in some detail by way of illustration and example for purposes of clarity of understanding, it is understood that certain changes and modifications may be made within the spirit of the invention as limited only by the scope of the appended claim.

3 H 4 What is claimed: 4 ripheral speed corresponding to the lineal speed at which In'an animated display assembly the combination comsaid wire is driven.

prising: an endless wire; means supporting said Wire with a small amount. of slack formovement in an endless References Cited in the file of this patent path of travel, saidxendlessfiwire including a substantially 5 horizontal fiight a peripherally grooved counterbalanced- UNITED STATES PATENTS wheel mounted on said horizontal flightcausing a sag' 1,176,888 Godfrey Mar. 28, 1916 in said'wireflcomrnensuratenwiththeamount of =slackin" 2,489,206 Tommie NOV. 22, 1949 said 'vvir'; driving means for. driving said Wire in a constanL-direc-tion;.causing ,said counterbalanced wheel to 10 FOREIGN PATENTS rotateinifix'ed positio'nv at .the pointof sag and at a pe- 825,515 Germany" Febl'28, 1952 

